Inner Demons
by Rachel0101
Summary: One shot. Rose is going through serious turmoil as she tries to cope with losing her son. Trying to forgive herself while trying to forgive her husband who happened to be behind the wheel the night their child wandered outside is easier said than done.


_The sky was pitched black. No stars. No moon. There was nothing but rain. The streets were deserted. No one dared to drive in this type of weather. Rain was pouring. It was coming down hard. The fog was thick. The weather broadcasters advised everyone to stay off of the road._

"_Are you sure you can drive in this? Maybe you should book a hotel room for the night." Rose said, tying her apron around her waist, "It doesn't look safe outside."_

"_And leave you in the house with two boys running all over the place, and a baby girl crying all night and day? Are you sure?" Emmett wondered, causing her to laugh, "I don't mind driving in this mess. It's all worth it if I can come home to see you and the children."_

_Rosalie smiled as Spike barked in the background. Emmett grinned. _

"_Not to mention the dog barking!" he exclaimed, turning on his windshield wipers, "How can you have a career and manage to raise three children and a dog?"_

"_Emmett, I'm wonder woman remember." Rose reminded, referring to the name Aidan and Jake called her, other than mom, "Besides, I'm not raising them alone. I have my husband."_

"_Yeah, but every so often wonder woman needs her partner!" Emmett noted, tapping his fingers along the steering wheel._

"_Emmett, have you forgotten? Wonderwoman doesn't have a partner." Rose corrected, turning the stove on, "I thought the boys taught you better than that."_

_"She's a part of a team." He reminded, pulling onto the dark street his house was located on._

_Rosalie stayed silent. She was trying to think of a remark. Nothing came to her. She placed the pan onto the stove and the meat into the pan._

"_Mom! Mom! Aidan let Spike outside!" Jake proclaimed, pointing at the open door. _

_The baby started crying. The wind was whistling. Jake was whining. Spike and Aidan were outside in this crazy weather._

"_Emmett, I'll just see you when you get here!" Rose shouted, tossing the phone onto the couch, "Where's Aidan?"_

_Jake silently pointed out the door. He watched his mother quickly untie her apron._

_"Stay in here with Peyton!" she demanded, running out of the house._

_She didn't care it was raining and foggy. She didn't care that she didn't have shoes on or a jacket. Her pajamas became soaked and clung to her body as she struggled to see through the fog._

"_Aidan!" Rose screamed, frantically looking around, "Aidan! It's mommy, where are you?!"_

_The more she couldn't find her son, the more worried she grew. To not know where your child is, is the biggest fear of a parent. She felt Spike run up against her._

_"Aidan I have Spike!" Rose hollered, praying to herself to hear his voice, "Aid!" _

_She continued to walk and shout her son's name. A bright light shined in her direction. She couldn't make out what or who it was. All she could see was a high beam._

"_Aidan!" Rose hollered, on the verge of tears, as she looked around, "Where are you?"_

_As the lights grew closer, she finally made out what it was. A car. It was her husband's car. She still couldn't find Aidan! The lights came closer and she could see a small figure standing in the middle of the street. _

_"Emmett stop!" Rose yelled, able to see Aidan in the high beams, "Stop!"_

_Rose bust out into another sprint towards the street. Her feet froze in the cold rain as they sunk into the wet grass and mud. She heard Emmett's car skid along the street before ramming into Aidan. A small thump sounded, causing Rosalie to abruptly stop. _

"_Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!" Rose repeated numerously, running towards her son as Emmett stopped the car._

_Rose pulled a tiny Aidan onto her lap as she cried into his shoulder. Being the doctor she was, she pressed a finger against his wrist. There was no pulse. She pressed her ear against his small chest. She couldn't hear or feel a heartbeat. Emmett quickly called the police as Spike ran over to them._

_"Get that dog away from me!" Rose bellowed, glaring at the dog before turning towards her son, "Emmett, I don't feel a pulse! I don't hear a heartbeat!"_

_"It's raining! You probably can't hear it over the rain!" he proclaimed, pulling his suit jacket off._

_He tossed the jacket to the side and took a seat next to his wife and son. Emmett looked up to see Jake standing in the doorway._

"_Aidan! Answer me! Wake up sweetheart! We have Spike back!" Rose cried out, running her hands through his brunette hair._

_Emmett rubbed small circles into his wife's back. She kept pressing small kisses to his forehead. The rain mixed in with her tears as they shed. _

"_Rose." Emmett muttered, trying to pull Aidan from her arms, "Let me see him._

"_He isn't breathing." Rose whispered, pulling Aidan tighter in her arms, "He isn't breathing Emmett! We have to do something! Please, I'm begging you! Help me do something!"_

_Rose's nose ran as she cried into her son's lifeless body. She heard ambulance sirens growing closer and closer, but she knew it was too late. The rain patted her hair and clothes, but she didn't care. _

_The ambulance pulled into a stop next to Emmett's car. He stood up and waved the paramedics over._

_"You're too late." She muttered, as they stooped low to check on the boy, "My son is dead and you're late. You're late!"_

_"Ma'am let us see him." Joshua, a paramedic asked, holding his hands out._

_Mitch, the other paramedic, wheeled a gurney out. It awaited for Aidan's small body. _

_"I can't let him go." She whispered, feeling Emmett's hand press against her back, "Please don't take him away from me. Emmett don't let them take him." _

_"Rose, they have to." He asserted, prying her arms from around the small child._

"_No! No!" she screamed, as Mitch scooped Aidan up._

_He laid the three year old down onto the gurney. Joshua looked at Rose as she covered her face and cried. He pulled the sheet up to cover the young child's head. Joshua looked over to Emmett and saw his tears getting mixed in with the rain._

"_No! No!" Rose shouted, over and over again, "Make them stop Emmett!"_

_Joshua and Mitch slowly rolled the gurney to the ambulance. Rose chased after them, doing whatever was in her power to make them stop._

_"Rose stop it!" Emmett ordered, gripping onto his wife's arm, "Aidan's gone! He's in a better place."_

"_This is my fault!" she cried out, turning to cry into his chest, "I should have watched him better! I should have done something! That should have been me! I'm sorry! Emmett, I'm so sorry!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Two Weeks Later<strong>

Rosalie stared down at the small casket that rested her three year old son. She felt her stepmother, Esme's arms wrap around her, but she brushed them off. She held the Kleenex and wiped the lose tears under her eyes. Whoever said time heals wounds, lied. She can't imagine living a day without her child. She keeps expecting to wake up from this nightmare.

"Esme I can't be here!" Rose bellowed, rubbing the top of the closed casket, "I can't do this! I need to leave!"

"Yes you can sweetheart. I know you can do this. You need some closure." Esme whispered, pecking Rose's cheek, "You have to do this. Just remind yourself that Aidan is in a better place. He's in a more peaceful world."

Rose erupted into tears as she stared at the small casket. He was taken from her too soon. She was his mother. It was easier said than done. Esme didn't understand. Her child isn't in a coffin at three years old.

"It's a shame they have to make caskets this small!" Rose cried out, as the church's doors opened, "This isn't fair. Aidan doesn't deserve this."

In walked her dad, carrying her youngest, and holding the hand of her oldest.

"He was just three. Aidan was just three years old!" Rose wailed, as her five year old ran into her arms, "My baby-!"

Jake tossed his arms around his mother's waist as she cried into the tissue. She wiped her eyes and glanced down at her son. Jake buried his head into his mother's black dress. Rose's dad, Carlisle, set Peyton's car seat down. She's asleep and didn't have a care in the world. Peyton didn't understand what was going on. She's just a baby and she'll never know Aidan. She'll only know him through stories.

Rose heard her mom, Isabella and her step dad, Edward; enter the room with Jasper and Alice behind them. The day after Aidan died; her brother was the first person she saw. He came to the morgue with flowers, a card, and a teddy bear. When she saw it, it made her think of Valentine's Day. He joked around and tried to lighten the mood but it didn't work. She just lost her son. What do you buy a woman who has lost her child? Nothing could take the pain away. Nothing could bring Aidan back. She pushed that day out of her head as she turned to give her mother all of her attention.

"Oh sweetheart!" Isabella exclaimed, tossing her arms around Rose, "We're going to get through this!"

"How mom? How?! My baby's dead! He's never coming back!" Rose screamed, pushing Bella off of her, "The only way I can get through this is if you bring him back to me!"

Rosalie moved away from her mother and approached her sleeping baby. Peyton's blonde hair was tied up in a bow. Her dad and stepmother have been taking care of the kids as she dealt with her grief. Peyton looked just like her. Jake looked like Emmett and Aidan was a perfect mixture of the both of them.

"Where's Emmett?" Alice asked, noticing her brother isn't anywhere in the church.

The room turned deadly silent. No one was willing to answer that question, especially Rose. For days Rose blamed her for the death of her son. The therapist said that's normal. What ifs flooded Rose's head for days. Recently she convinced herself that what happened wasn't her fault, but Emmett's. He was the one driving, not her. He was the one who hit Aidan, not her.

"I'm right here." Emmett whispered, entering the church, "Sorry I'm late."

Rosalie couldn't bring herself to look at him. She left Peyton's side and moved towards the casket. Aidan was resting inside. Every time she thought about that, water poured out of her eyes. Her son was inside of this….this box! Now, the man who killed him had the nerve to show his face at his funeral.

"What are you doing here?" Rose questioned, not taking her eyes off of the casket.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him. Jake was already his spitting image. Every time she looked at her son, she thought about Emmett, and when she thought about him she thought about Aidan. She could hear Emmett's footsteps slowly walk down the aisle. A small cry left her lips as she covered her heart with her hand.

"I came for my son's funeral." he answered, smiling down at Jake and Peyton.

"I don't want you anywhere near me or my babies!" Rose shouted, throwing her arms around Aidan's casket.

She clenched the brown casket in her arms. She couldn't hold her baby, but she could hold what he was in. It wasn't fair. She just wanted to say goodbye. That was robbed from her. She didn't get to say bye to him.

"Sweetheart, you can't keep Emmett from his kids." Cynthia, Emmett's mom, spoke up, revealing herself.

Rosalie stood up. Who the hell did Cynthia think she was? She didn't care if she was Emmett and Alice's mother! This was her son's funeral and she didn't have to be here. The only person Aidan needs here is his mother.

"Like hell I can't! Your son killed my son!" Rose cried out, knocking the flower vase off of the mantel, "None of your kids are dead Cynthia! I'm just trying to protect my children!"

"It was an accident!" Emmett erupted, approaching Rosalie slowly.

"Don't come near me or my children!" she screamed, backing away from him, "I already lost one child, there's no way in hell I'm losing another!"

Rosalie backed further away from him. She couldn't be in his presence. It was constant flashbacks of that night. Aidan will forever be a touchy subject for her. Rose turned back and smiled at Aidan's picture propped up in a picture frame. Today was his day. They can't ruin today.

"This isn't helping-" Cynthia started, before being interrupted by Emmett.

"No, this is good. Let her speak!" he urged, turning back to Rose, "The last time we talked you were blaming yourself, you were asking for _my _forgiveness because you weren't keeping a closer eye on Aidan. It turned my stomach Rosalie to hear the misplaced forgiveness. This is better. This is healthy."

Her fists clenched. He had some nerve. She wanted to scream. She wanted to pull out her hair. Every time he spoke, it drove her crazy. Why couldn't he just stay quiet and stay at home?

"I don't want or deserve your forgiveness Rosalie. I will ask nothing of it. I just came to say goodbye to my son." Emmett said, glancing towards the casket, "I don't expect anything. I don't want anything. It's good that you finally taken the blame off of your back and put it where it needs to be."

Rose silently cried to herself. He still suggested on speaking. Emmett could see the more he talked, the more she cried. He was trying to be nice, but that wasn't what she wanted. She needed him to be mean so it could be easier for her to hate him. She despised him right now.

"I've built a wall around myself to protect-" Emmett started, before being interrupted by Rose.

She couldn't take it anymore. Rosalie had to give him a piece of her mind. He didn't understand how she felt right now. Maybe he understood losing a child, but he didn't understand the dilemma she's in. His spouse didn't kill their son.

"Am I supposed to be fascinated that you built a wall around yourself?! That nothing can basically break through that wall. Not guilt? Remorse? Regret?! Certainly not the death of my son!" she screamed, turning away from Emmett to face the casket once again, "You're selfish! You don't care about anyone else but yourself!"

"If that's what you need to believe." Emmett whispered, as Cynthia took his hand in hers.

"Damn you Emmett!" Rose screamed, throwing a vase at him, "You and your dumbass wall can haul ass out of here! Get out!"

Emmett pushed his mother out of the way as the vase landed at his feet. He knew she was upset. He was too. She wasn't the only one who lost a child. Emmett had grief to deal with, and deep inside he did feel guilty for Aidan's death.

"Why can't you take responsibility?!" she asked, struggling to calm down.

"I don't know what you want me to do to show that I have indeed taken full responsibility for Aidan's death! I never denied it, but you don't see it that way and I find no pleasure in arguing with you!" he shouted, kicking the broken pieces of glass to the side, "I just hope someday, somehow. We'll be able to get pass this."

"And then what Emmett? You want me to welcome you back into Peyton and Jake's lives?" Rose questioned, crossing her arms in disbelief, "Sometimes I just want to hit you over the head with a shovel! Just shut up!"

Rose grabbed the framed photo of Aidan that rested beside his casket. She smiled down at it before looking up at Emmett. He appreciated the smile. He has missed it. Her smile quickly went away when she saw him begin to calm down. Rosalie didn't want him calm. She wanted him to feel the way she's feeling.

"Do you see this picture? Do you see this face? You ended this life! You took away my baby's life!" Rose screamed, showing Emmett the picture of Aidan, "Look at him! I only have pictures left of him! Nothing else, because you took him away!"

Rosalie snatched the picture back and set it back down. Her hands fidgeted against her side as Cynthia approached her. She dared the woman to say something to piss her off. There was nothing holding Rosalie back.

"Sweetheart, how about I take you to the bathroom where you can freshen up?" Bella wondered, taking her daughter's hands in hers.

Bella protected Emmett's mother by beating her to the punch. She spoke before Cynthia had the chance to. Rosalie unclenched her fists after not even realizing they were balled up in the first place.

"That isn't going to change the way I feel about him mom." Rose remarked, averting her eyes from Emmett to Bella, "We were supposed to protect him mom. We were supposed to keep him safe. We promised him a good life."

"He had a good life." Cynthia spoke up, feeling heart break for her daughter-in-law.

"He was three Cynthia! He was three years old! He never really had a chance to live a life! He never got to go to school! He never got to ride a bike! Go to prom! Graduate! Get married! He was cheated out of a future! We all were cheated because of your son!" Rose shouted, approaching her mother-in-law, "So don't say he had a good life! You don't know what he had! You were hardly around, so don't act like you were! You barely knew him! You sent birthday cards in the mail! You called during holidays! So don't talk like you knew my son... Now get your ass out of my face."

Alice approached ready to defend her mom, before Jasper pulled her back. He didn't want her getting into anything she had nothing to do with. Rosalie watched Cynthia back away. She didn't take it personal. She knew Rose was grieving for the loss of her son. Rose inhaled a sharp breath, turned and faced Emmett.

"You knew this was your fault all along! You didn't once say anything to get the blame off of me! You just hit him Emmett! You ran over my baby and didn't blink twice!"

Esme quickly ran over to her stepdaughter. Rosalie was crying, screaming, and trembling. She was capable of doing anything. Esme wanted to stop her before she did do something.

"Calm down." Esme whispered, grabbing onto Rose's wrist.

"I'm not going to calm down!" she remarked, snatching her wrist out of Esme's grip, "I'm not going to calm down and listen to Emmett say this is therapeutic! This is your fault Emmett! It's your fault that we lost our baby! I asked you to book a hotel room that night; and if you did we wouldn't even be here. We'll be with our children. All three of them!"

She ran her hand through her hair and turned on her heel. She approached Aidan's casket and smiled down at it. Rosalie had to continually tell herself he's in a better place, but it didn't help with her emotions. She carried him for nine months. She birthed him. Rose nurtured him. She cared for him for three years.

"Are we ready to begin?" the pastor asked, entering the church.

The reality of it hit her again. This was the time to say goodbye, but the feeling in the pit of her stomach stopped her from that.

"I don't want to say goodbye!" Rose bellowed, latching onto her son's casket, as Bella tried to pry her off, "Please don't make me!"

"Come on baby." Carlisle whispered, taking his daughter into his arms, "Let's take our seat."

The pastor passed programs out to everyone. She clenched the program in her hand as she looked around. Everyone was smiling as they glanced down at the program.

"Thank you." Rosalie mumbled, glancing at the program herself.

Her hand flew to cover her mouth. She immediately started crying when she opened the page to see a picture of Aidan. He was smiling really hard. Aidan was a happy child.

"It's always sad to lose a loved one, especially when the loved one is a three year old child-" the pastor started, as Rose watched Emmett take a seat in the back.

She held the program to her chest and silently cried. Rosalie could feel Aidan's love in the room. His presence was definitely here. For the first time in days, when she thought about Aidan, she didn't cry.

* * *

><p><strong>Four Years Later<strong>

**Rosalie:**

For four years, me and Emmett were separated. He moved into an apartment closer to his job. Cynthia moved into town.

"Mommy!" Peyton exclaimed, running through the front door with Jake behind her.

"Hi baby." I greeted, picking her up in my arms, "Did you have fun with daddy?"

"Yes I did. Daddy and Jake even started to teach me how to swim." she replied, pecking my cheek.

"Go upstairs and unpack." I ordered, watching her skip away.

"How was dad's house?" I asked, noticing my son being exceptionally quiet.

"I don't like that I always have to go to two separate houses. Why can't dad just live here with us?" Jake wondered, grabbing his small suitcase.

I noticed standing in the doorway was Emmett. For four years I managed to avoid seeing him. Esme, Edward and my parents were usually the ones who did the exchange with me and Emmett. I couldn't see him. The first two years when I tried, I started crying. This was the first time I've seen him since Aidan's funeral. Jake grabbed his bag and started heading for the stairs.

"What are you-" I started, approaching him.

"I just want to talk." he interrupted, closing the door behind him, "I need to talk to you."

"Okay." I whispered, leading him into the living room, "You can have a seat."

I'm still living in the same house. I couldn't bear to move out. This house had too many good memories to just move away. Aidan's room looks exactly the same. We didn't touch a thing. We just left it the way he did as if he's going to come home and go straight to it. My baby was supposed to be seven.

"You don't know how afraid I am to be here. I'm kind of afraid of you." Emmett said, smiling down at me.

"Smart man." I commented, crossing my arms, "Any man that is afraid of a woman is a smart man."

"I wanted to apologize." he whispered, watching me take a seat beside him.

I sighed to myself. I was actually shocked. I didn't cry. I didn't feel angry. I felt normal. I did feel bad that Emmett is even apologizing.

"You don't have to apologize. If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I just pointed my anger towards you. I was just so _mad!_ I wanted to take it out on someone who, at that time, I felt deserved the anger." I explained, patting his knee before standing up, "Your apology isn't accepted. I don't deserve an apology Emmett."

"I love you Rosie, I always have, I always will, no questions about it." Emmett assured, standing up, "Technically we're still married."

I smiled at him. It was completely true. I never felt the need to file for divorce. I had more important things on my mind. Now I'm kind of glad I didn't file. I never fell out of love with him. I thought I did, but that was only because the anger of Aidan's death took over me.

"I love you too." I whispered, staring down at the ground.

He hesitantly held his hand out. I stared down at it. His wedding ring was still on his ring finger. My hand slowly reached out towards his. It would be no going back. Was I really over it? I thought about Aidan and placed my hand inside of his. His large hand overpowered mine. I stepped towards him, and watched as his arms cautiously wrapped around my waist.

"We're strong Rose. We took a temporary break and we're never doing that again!" Emmett asserted, pecking my forehead, "The first day I met you, I knew you were the one. We fell in love, I gave you my last name and I am so happy I am spending the rest of my life with you."

"Aidan would want us together." I added, wrapping my arms around his neck, "I love you. We have to treasure the people we were blessed with because you never know when one will be gone."

**Review:**

**Okay! Okay! Sad…I know! Please leave a review to let me know what you all thought of the story!**

**-Rachel!**


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